Space Stallions!
February 1, 2012 2:07 PM Subscribe
Space Stallions! A 2012 bachelor film project from The Animation Workshop. More epic than epic. More 80s than the 80s ever were. (slyt)
everything is now ponies
posted by The Whelk at 2:16 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 2:16 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I'd totally watch that. Almost unironically. Also, it cries out for a Rob Brydon/Steve Coogan live-action version.
posted by kariebookish at 2:22 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by kariebookish at 2:22 PM on February 1, 2012
Just a caveat, having lived through the 80's, they weren't really especially 80's.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:23 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:23 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Speaking as a child of the '80s, this resembles Silverhawks. Opening at YouTube.
posted by fijiwriter at 2:29 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by fijiwriter at 2:29 PM on February 1, 2012
I got a strong "Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers" vibe from it, but that was before I'd seen that "Silverhawks" opening. Holy cow!
(For them to really nail the 80s cartoon vibe, however, the animation needs to be roughly a thousand times better in the title sequence than it ever is on the show itself.)
posted by Monster_Zero at 2:47 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
(For them to really nail the 80s cartoon vibe, however, the animation needs to be roughly a thousand times better in the title sequence than it ever is on the show itself.)
posted by Monster_Zero at 2:47 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Technically well made, but it's a joke w/no punchline.
posted by billyfleetwood at 2:47 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by billyfleetwood at 2:47 PM on February 1, 2012
Now I need to acquire a keysword, dammit.
posted by Virtblue at 2:50 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Virtblue at 2:50 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Speaking as a child of the '80s, this resembles Silverhawks.
Which also resembled ThunderCats, which also resembled Tiger Sharks. Rankin/Bass were on a pretty big animal-themed superhero kick back in the '80s.
The most impressive thing for me (other than the sheer preposterous '80sness of it all) was the way the 3D animation was made to look almost exactly like cel animation, and not just in the "cel-shaded" way that we're used to seeing from video games these days. These guys did some serious work to get that look nailed down in CGI.
posted by Strange Interlude at 2:52 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Which also resembled ThunderCats, which also resembled Tiger Sharks. Rankin/Bass were on a pretty big animal-themed superhero kick back in the '80s.
The most impressive thing for me (other than the sheer preposterous '80sness of it all) was the way the 3D animation was made to look almost exactly like cel animation, and not just in the "cel-shaded" way that we're used to seeing from video games these days. These guys did some serious work to get that look nailed down in CGI.
posted by Strange Interlude at 2:52 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
fijiwriter: as soon as it got going I immediately thought, "I want to watch Silverhawks."
posted by curious nu at 2:56 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by curious nu at 2:56 PM on February 1, 2012
Silverhawks
Partly metal, partly real?
...
That was the part of SilverHawks that always lost me, the implication that metal was somehow not "real."
posted by Strange Interlude at 3:03 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Partly metal, partly real?
...
That was the part of SilverHawks that always lost me, the implication that metal was somehow not "real."
posted by Strange Interlude at 3:03 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Probably Silverhawks, most emphatically, but certainly shades of Voltron, Thundercats, Tigersharks, M.A.S.K., Bionic Six, Blackstar, BraveStarr, Space Stars, Defenders of the Earth, and whatever show Daft Punk chopped up for their cartoon a few years back.
Sun Ray (Sun-Re?) is a little too butch to be a lead character imo. We liked our mustaches back then, but not that much.
posted by teekat at 3:07 PM on February 1, 2012
Sun Ray (Sun-Re?) is a little too butch to be a lead character imo. We liked our mustaches back then, but not that much.
posted by teekat at 3:07 PM on February 1, 2012
I give them props for incorporating a key tar.
Incorporating a key-tar into a sword
posted by device55 at 3:07 PM on February 1, 2012
Incorporating a key-tar into a sword
posted by device55 at 3:07 PM on February 1, 2012
whatever show Daft Punk chopped up for their cartoon a few years back.
Interstella 5555 was created specifically for those Daft Punk videos by Leiji Matsumoto (Star Blazers, Captain Harlock and many others)
The video storyline was expanded to cover the rest of the songs in an episode-length story, now available on disc as an "animated house musical."
posted by JDC8 at 3:34 PM on February 1, 2012
Interstella 5555 was created specifically for those Daft Punk videos by Leiji Matsumoto (Star Blazers, Captain Harlock and many others)
The video storyline was expanded to cover the rest of the songs in an episode-length story, now available on disc as an "animated house musical."
posted by JDC8 at 3:34 PM on February 1, 2012
Full Force!
Surprisingly better than I expected. I liked all the little homages to the limitations of "CGI" back then, like, the floor tiles resembling huge pixels, the glowing "web" thingy with the latices that X-ray spits out.
And that circle thing the bad guy was flying around in... that was a Captain EO reference, wasn't it?
posted by porpoise at 3:57 PM on February 1, 2012
Surprisingly better than I expected. I liked all the little homages to the limitations of "CGI" back then, like, the floor tiles resembling huge pixels, the glowing "web" thingy with the latices that X-ray spits out.
And that circle thing the bad guy was flying around in... that was a Captain EO reference, wasn't it?
posted by porpoise at 3:57 PM on February 1, 2012
Neat, but the bodies all have that distinctive CGI-modeled weirdness to how they move, and in a real 80s cartoon, there would be more badly drawn characters talking endlessly in hackneyed cliches while standing at awkward angles to each other with completely dead figures except for a slightly mismatched arm, which means that that part is going to move. Then, they'd tip their heads back and laugh as if something properly hilarious had been said, which almost never happened.
posted by sonascope at 4:14 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by sonascope at 4:14 PM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
The 80s cartoons it's paying homage to didn't really have much in the way of CGI, though. There were some nice Thundercats homages, though, especially the girl doing a Cheetarah run.
posted by emjaybee at 4:15 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by emjaybee at 4:15 PM on February 1, 2012
It actually looked to me like many of the effects in this were hand-drawn. Whether they are or not, they look great!
posted by hellphish at 4:45 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by hellphish at 4:45 PM on February 1, 2012
Holy crap that is some awesome non-photograpic rendering. They really nailed the "airbrush on illustration board" look for the backgrounds, and the characters were damn close to looking hand-drawn. Could've used a bit more weight on the outlines. But it looks really good as is.
And adding all those hand-drawn lighting crackles... sweeeeet.
posted by egypturnash at 5:09 PM on February 1, 2012
And adding all those hand-drawn lighting crackles... sweeeeet.
posted by egypturnash at 5:09 PM on February 1, 2012
what, no mention of she-ra? they totally stole she-ra (or at least her outfit)
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:19 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:19 PM on February 1, 2012
Speaking as a child of the '80s, this resembles Silverhawks. Opening at YouTube.
Holy shit. If you had asked me five minutes ago if I remember Silverhawks, I would have said no. But as soon as I started watching those credits I was remembering every second of it. Who knew that was lurking at the bottom of my brain?
posted by brundlefly at 5:26 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Holy shit. If you had asked me five minutes ago if I remember Silverhawks, I would have said no. But as soon as I started watching those credits I was remembering every second of it. Who knew that was lurking at the bottom of my brain?
posted by brundlefly at 5:26 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Also, the FPPed video is brilliant.
posted by brundlefly at 5:28 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by brundlefly at 5:28 PM on February 1, 2012
How can a woman be a stallion? Wouldn't she be a space mare?
posted by Phatty Lumpkin at 5:29 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by Phatty Lumpkin at 5:29 PM on February 1, 2012
Wait, is the bad guy some kind of bird? Why does it always have to be birds vs humans with horses involved?
posted by ymgve at 5:33 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by ymgve at 5:33 PM on February 1, 2012
I think the bad guy is sort of supposed to be like Stampede from Bravestarr. I'm sure I saw a couple of references to that in there! If it wasn't so slick, it would be an excellent homage. I still enjoyed it though :-)
posted by Calzephyr at 6:35 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by Calzephyr at 6:35 PM on February 1, 2012
In a similar vein, some friends of mine are pitching a project called Horse F.O.R.S.E., in which "a team of six pure-bred Arabian stallions (Blastback, Laserhoof, Frostang, Mermare, Windbreaker, and Metalmane) who after 40,000 years at the bottom of the ocean emerge with super-powers and become the self-appointed protectors of Earth while pursuing their heavy metal dreams on the side." The theme song they wrote is pretty great.
posted by scottjlowe at 7:36 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by scottjlowe at 7:36 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Great post. For this vid and others that pop up at the end. Like Girl and Robot, frinstance. Some real freaky stuff. Thanks for the key. Going to go down the rabbit hole for a while
posted by Redhush at 8:20 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by Redhush at 8:20 PM on February 1, 2012
I would watch the fuck out of this show, and the show that scottjlowe just mentioned. WATCH. THE FUCK OUT OF IT.
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:21 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:21 PM on February 1, 2012
The 3d character animation was a bit jarring, but I'm glad I stuck with it long enough to behold the awesome wonder of the mighty sword/keytar. And now that theme song is stuck in my head.
posted by gamera at 8:48 PM on February 1, 2012
posted by gamera at 8:48 PM on February 1, 2012
In a just world, Apollo Gauntlet would have this many views.
posted by soy bean at 3:57 PM on February 2, 2012
posted by soy bean at 3:57 PM on February 2, 2012
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posted by Foci for Analysis at 2:11 PM on February 1, 2012